Minister Must Address Impact of CAP Cuts to Farm Incomes

Following today’s meeting of the farm organisations with Minister McConalogue in Backwestan, IFA President Tim Cullinan said the Minister has no proposals to address the enormous income losses experienced by a cohort of our most productive farmers under the Minister’s CAP proposals.

“The Minister needs to come forward with additional funding to support the farmers who are being savaged by the combined effect of eco-schemes, convergence and CRISS on their incomes,” he said. 

“The Minister has decided to cut every farmer’s Basic Payment by 25% to fund eco-schemes when it could be less than 20% due to the level Ireland’s environmental spend as part of Pillar 2,” he said. 

“These eco-schemes are new, and they are a leap into the unknown. It would be far better to reduce the level of funding set aside for them and leave as much money as possible in the basic payment,” he said.